9/18/08 Lynn Camp
Today was pretty much the same as Mon. and Tue. except for a few minor differences. The first and the largest difference was the fact that Steve Moore and Matt Kulp in their attempt to be finished on Thur. (Which Steve M. Said would Happen) worked me like a borrowed mule. as Gerry said on Mon "I worked my BUTT off". We were able to move all of the treatment stations and set them up for the final treatment starting early Thur. morning. We had a few less people helping, but everone jumped in and got the job finished by 5:30pm.
Josh & Adam from GSMNP along with Doug from NC west Fisheries and I started the day by hiking (bush wacking) up Marks Creek carring live rainbows and cages to set-up. That was a pretty much a butt kicking hike.

Alan Monsarrat also a member of this forum started out by collecting more stations and cages from higher up Lynn Camp to be put on Marks.

After lunch I rejoined Alan M, Steve Moore and Collen from Oragon, to go and collect 7 more stations from up Lynn Camp. After collecting these 7 and seeing that our bear friend had destroyed one station to the point of not being able to reuse it, Alan M. and I joined John Hammond and one other gentleman from TWRA to hike back up Marks creek to set-up 4 more stations.

This may not seem like a lot of work being done, but you have to remember there were other people working in other areas that I cannot report on. However I do know this at 5:30 when most of us came back together, there were a lot of tired, dirty people walking out.

In other news todays efforts was capture on video by WBIR, Heartland Show. Bill Landry arrived at 7:45am with crew and it will be shown in about 6 weeks. I hope you all get to see it.

I wasn't able to take any pics today, as I have said everyone work their butts off and trying to get everthing finished for Thur. was the upmost important for everyone.

I want to, on behalf of everyone that volunteered this week, thank Steve M. and Matt K. for the invite I believe we all learned something, had fun, meet great (like-minded) people from all over the US, and worked on a great project that will give us great fishing for native Brookies in the near future. On that note Lynn Camp will reopen in 5-7 years and as Matt and Steve both stated it will be one of the best, if not the best Wild Brook stream in the park. That is when all of their efforts will be truly rewarded.

Now on a personal note: I was able to see my first GSMNP bear driving in and then another one leaving, both small (120lbs or so). And I have meet my new hero, Mr. Steve Moore, he has dedicated 27yrs to our beloved park and I have found that noone other then the creator himself knows more about the fisheries therein. My hat goes off to his dedication, and service, but more importantly his love for those waterways and the creatures that inhabit them.
It is awsome to get a first hand, behind the scenes look at the hard work and effort that goes into keeping what we have great and making it better for us and our kids.
Yours humbled;
Steve Gillespie

__________________ Attempt Great Things For Christ,
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If I can just amplify a bit.... (I'll try and keep the character count down)

That trail up Mark's Creek is pretty much just a primitive trail. Take the Lynn Camp trail and cut it down to about 1 1/2' - 2' in width, then lower the canopy down to about 6' and bring the undergrowth in on all sides to about 3' wide. You don't have to do any bushwhacking but you do have to work your way around, over and through fallen trees, etc. -- all the while carrying 5 gallon buckets loaded with equipment and/or wearing backpack frames outfitted with 5 gallon holding/transport tanks. On Monday, we just hiked up carrying in the station equipment in the 5 gallon buckets. I can't imagine what a pain it was to haul in rainbows on those backpacks!!

On a side note... Steve, if you got up near #17 on Mark's then you got a pretty good idea of what Beech Flats looks like. There's a stretch about a quarter mile below #16 that looks exactly like Beech Flats.

Glad to hear that WBIR-TV showed up to do a Heartland Series episode! I regretted that I was unable to get any pictures -- there just wasn't any time. Maybe now folks will be able to see just how complex and professional this effort is.

Wouldn't it be nice if Byron could get them to share some of their photography so he could post it here for all the message board members to see?

Question: Just what portion of the streams are still closed? I got the impression from some it includes Lynn Camp Prong above its falls and all of its feeders, but the the GSMP web site limits closings to Indian Flats Prong at the Middle Prong Trial crossing and its tributaries upstream.

Lynn Camp Prong is closed from the confluence with Thunderhead Prong and everything upstream. There is a chain with a sign strung across the stream. If you are fishing up from the Middle Prong it is easy to see.....if you are just walking up the trail you have to look off the bridge to the left to see it.

Has there been any official statement as to why the gorge itself is closed? The final neutralizing station was set up at the base of the cascades to prevent any spill or seepage into the gorge. The stretch from the confluence to the cascades is short but awesome and I can't see where anyone could fish their way up the face of the cascades so there shouldn't be any real threat of contamination or species transference.

Was it just convenience thing?

I know it's just 3/4 of a mile in a park of over, what (?), 700 miles of streams... still it was my favorite spot -- in spite of the fact that my rotator cuff will probably never be the same again...

Gerry

__________________"I've since learned to use the best knot rather than the one that uses the least line. I go through more tippet material but compensate by drinking cheaper whiskey. One must have priorities." ... Art Scheck